"if you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much room"

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

back to school

Our plan for Saturday was to do as much riding as we could and then drop the bike off at the Harley Dealer before they closed. I had an appointment to get the 1000 mile service done on Monday and was going to drop it off early.
We were up early and disappointed to see how cloudy it was and it looked like it would start raining anytime. Rudee followed me in the Dakota and we headed for Plainfield. We were able to talk to each other over the CB radio but I still missed her being on the bike behind me. Our plan was to stop for breakfast in Danville, once we got there and the rain had not started I decided to just continue on to the dealership in hopes of staying dry.
We made it to the shop and when I went to check the bike in they said they could do the job today and I could pick it up in about 3 hours. Cool.
There is a Cracker Barrel across the street and that was where we headed for breakfast. We no more got inside and the rains started. Whew, made it just in time but it looked like I might be in for a wet ride home. We enjoyed our breakfast and since we still had a couple of hours to kill, we drove over to Rudee's Mom and Dad's house for a visit.
The rain stopped while we were inside their house and, as if on cue, my phone rang telling me our bike was done.
We checked the weather radar on the TV and it looked like the rain might hold off long enough for me to get home but they were saying the rest of the day would be a wash out :-(.
After picking up the bike Rudee followed me back to Crawfordsville. The trip takes us right at 1 hour and we only hit some sprinkles in the last 2 miles so I was able to stay dry again.
I got the bike put away and we went into the 5th wheel and waited for the big rains to start. We waited and waited but they never did come. The skies even started clearing and the sun started peeking through by evening. We decided to get the bike back out once again and rode to Lafayette where we met up with one of Rudee's coworkers Matt and his wife Val for a sweet treat at the local Dairy Queen.
We spent some time catching up with them and of course Matt and Rudee got to "talk shop" some. We left them just as the sun started to sinking and had a nice ride back home.

Sunday we were up early once again. We had enrolled in a Basic First Aid class given through our Goldwing group. The class was being held at Niles and Deb's house and started at 8:30. We had made arrangements to meet Rob and Jany Runion at Flapjack's in Lebanon at 7 am so we needed to be out the door and on the road by 6:30.
The temperature was pretty cool and we wore our jackets and I think Rudee was wishing she had worn her insulated riding suit by the time we pulled into the restaurant.
Rob and Jany were already there but they had chickened out and driven their car instead of riding their bike. What a couple of "light weights" :-).
We made it to the class on time and Deb even had coffee and warm muffins ready for us!
Mike and Penny Kadinger were our instructors and did a great job. Rudee and I both have had medical training in our past careers. I spent about 10 years working fulltime as a Paramedic before joining the Sheriff's Department and then continued working part time for several years after that. Rudee has worked as a nurses aid and a Qualified Medicine Aid and we both try to stay current on our CPR training.
During the morning session we learned and practiced CPR as well as how to use an Automatic Emergency Defibrillator and basically how to respond to a medical emergency. We broke for lunch and Deb had baked a ham with cheesy potatoes and also had a couple of salads for us all to eat. Wow, what a lunch.
The afternoon session went quickly and we learned how to do patient assessments, bandaging, treating shock and other medical ailments.
Our entire class passed with flying colors and to celebrate we had a big cook out. Niles did the honors as head cook and we all brought meat for the grille as well as a dish to "pitch in".

We did get a frightening call right before dinner though. Some of our riding buddies were enjoying the day on their bike and had an accident in Southern Indiana. They were both taken to the hospital but luckily were only shaken up and sore. Rob and Jany took their car down to drive them home and Rob was able to ride their bike back to their house for them while they followed in the car.

We made it back home just as it was getting dark. We had a full day and were both tired but happy we had taken the training, even if it only reinforced what we already knew.
We actually have to work all 5 days this week. Boo :-(. That's the bad thing about having two short weeks in a row, makes coming back to work a drag. I sure look forward to the time when we have weeks with more days off than days worked. I'll keep you posted.

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